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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25031569">The Bet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LethanWolf/pseuds/LethanWolf'>LethanWolf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Betting, Canon Compliant, Canon Setting, F/M, First Date, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gambling, Humor, Rukia has no idea whats happening, Seireitei Setting, The Seireitei, The Seireitei Birthday gift exchange, Ukitake knows his Lieutenant, bet, date, office chat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:21:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25031569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LethanWolf/pseuds/LethanWolf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Ah, has young Abarai finally asked out my Lieutenant?’ her Captain questioned with a chuckle and Rukia blinked. She turned to her Captain with her mouth open.<br/>‘Sir?’ she was aware her voice came out as a tiny squeak.<br/>‘The Captains have bets on,’ he chuckled with amusement, watching as Rukia’s face likely fell open in shock. </p><p>{That time that Captain Ukitake and the other Captains made bets as to when Renji Abarai would finally ask Rukia Kuchiki out! HAPPY SEIREITEI BIRTHDAY GIFT EXCHANGE NAOMI!}</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Seireitei Server Birthday Gift Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Bet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Dreamer/gifts">Chaotic_Dreamer</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I had to pounce in as a Pitch Hitter for the birthday fic exchange :D no beef at all, but that's why this piece is a bit short and not one of my usual pairings. </p><p>I hope you enjoy it anyway Naomi!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The orange glow threw shadows across the Seireitei. The high topped office window leaked light that crept across the ancient wooden floorings, glinting off various objects and taunting the broken blinds that were propped open. In the setting sun, there was a stillness that seemed to ebb and flow through the ancient streets below.</p><p>Rukia sat at her desk, tapping her pen against the ink pot and trying her best to ignore the feeling coiling in her stomach. The lieutenant badge was slipping down her arm and she made a great show of exhaling a shaky breath and putting the brush between her lips to fix it. The material pulled tight against her uniform and the pressure only served to ground Rukia, as she focused on it before tying it firmly back in place.</p><p>‘Something on your mind?’ a familiar voice quietly asked.</p><p>Rukia’s brush fell from her lips and clattered noisily onto the floor, dripping ink as it went. Startled and embarrassed, Rukia quickly picked it up and straightened in her seat to see her Captain standing in the doorway looking amused.</p><p>‘Captain, s-sorry,’ Rukia rose from her seat and bowed her head low, drawing an amused chuckle from the older man.</p><p>‘There’s not need to apologise for me startling you, should it not be the other way around?’ Captain Ukitake lifted his arms to move his sleeves back from his hands as he swept across the office space. He made his way to the tea making station, his eyes transfixed by the ice that engulfed the pot and cups. He said nothing. Pursing his lips, he merely went about defrosting them over a light heat as Rukia sat down on her chair.</p><p>There was silence between them. The fire the only noise at it spit angrily at the frozen water. Rukia knew she needed to answer her Captain’s question that still hung in the air between them.</p><p>‘It’s… it’s Lieutenant Abari, Sir,’ Rukia said, fiddling idly with the edge of the piece of paperwork she was meant to be reviewing.</p><p>‘Is young Abarai alright?’ the worry in her Captain’s voice made Rukia smile. Her Captain was one of the kindest souls that existed in the Seireitei, not that Rukia was bias or anything.</p><p>‘He’s okay, Sir…’ Rukia trailed off and felt Captain Ukitake’s questioning gaze on her face. She tried her best to hold it back, but nothing she could do, could stop the heat climbing up her neck and spilling out across her face, hot and obvious.</p><p>‘Ah, has young Abarai finally asked out my Lieutenant?’ her Captain questioned with a chuckle and Rukia blinked. She turned to her Captain with her mouth open.</p><p>‘Sir?’ she was aware her voice came out as a tiny squeak.</p><p>‘The Captains have bets on,’ he chuckled with amusement, watching as Rukia’s face likely fell open in shock. The white haired man crossed the room and put a hot cup of tea down on Rukia’s desk, turning away as a sickly cough caught at the back of his throat for a few moments. He recovered easily and Rukia felt no need to fuss over him as his third seats usually did, she knew her Captain was significantly stronger than his illness.</p><p>‘You… you have bets on?’ Rukia stammered.</p><p>‘Yes, all except Captain Kuchiki. Captain Kyoraku decided it wouldn’t be fair given how much influence he has over the two of you, he may try and bend your will to suit his bet rather than letting the two of you come together naturally.’ Captain Ukitake said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like the last couple of hours hadn’t seen Rukia’s emotions scrubbed raw and laid out bare as she tried to consider her childhood friend as a possible love interest.</p><p>‘How did… how did you all know?’ Rukia asked, her brows furrowing as he looked into the wise face of her mentor.</p><p>Captain Ukitake looked amused, his smile tugging at his lips as if he wanted to chuckle but did his best not to.</p><p>‘Lieutenant Abarai has been incredibly obvious in his feelings toward you, Rukia, you don’t strike me as an intentionally obtuse person, so you must have just assumed everything he’s been doing lately was born out of friendship than romantic interest?’ Captain Ukitake pulled one of the spare wooden chairs against the wall over toward the desk. He sat down on it, as if he were here for some kind of interview with her. The way he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table touching the tips of his long fingers together though, made Rukia feel like <em>she </em>was the one being interviewed.</p><p>‘I-’ Rukia blinked at her Captain and he raised a patient eyebrow. ‘Y-you mean the time he tried to bring me food when I was training, but threw it at me instead wasn’t a prank?’</p><p>‘His foot genuinely found the only tree root in that entire field.’</p><p>‘-and the time he learned to sing “Baby got Back” because Ichigo had told him it was what he’d done to win over Orihime-’</p><p>‘A very big lapse in his ability to comprehend English lyrics.’</p><p>‘-and when he gave me his jacket to walk home with-’</p><p>‘A genuine romantic notion-’</p><p>‘- but forgot he had chilli powdered hidden in the lapels because it’s forbidden in the barracks-’</p><p>‘- I stand corrected.’</p><p>‘These were all meant to be him trying to be romantic? I thought he was pranking me on purpose,’ Rukia couldn’t believe it. She could now think of a dozen or so times when Renji had done something she found inappropriate and now realised that he’d relied on Ichigo too often for most of the advice. Rukia sat back in her chair, reeling and rubbed at her temples with her hands.</p><p>‘He’s not a romantic person by nature, all the Captain’s have come to recognise that. So they started trying to help give him advice and gifts to pass onto you depending on the timeline of their bet.’</p><p>‘Wait,’ Rukia felt more heat rising in her cheeks, ‘you mean the rusty old sword he gave me was meant to be a gift? I thought he wanted me to throw it out.’</p><p>‘Oh dear,’ her Captain chuckled, ‘the Eleventh will not be pleased. That sword held some great significance to them.’</p><p>‘What about the kitten? Who’s idea was that?’ Rukia flailed her arms.</p><p>‘I believe that was Soi Fon,’ her Captain looked far too amused now, his eyes twinkling in the setting sun.</p><p>‘I’m allergic,’ Rukia groaned. She’d had to give the kitten to Urahara.</p><p>‘I must say, I am pleased I put my bet so far out,’ Captain Ukitake chuckled, ‘the youth of today seem so inclined toward large and lavish shows of affection, instead of the more simplistic forms. I knew I’d have to wait until he’d failed a few times before he’d take an old mans’ advice.’</p><p>‘W-what,’ Rukia’s face felt entirely too hot and she cleared her throat, ‘what advice did you give him, Sir?’</p><p>‘That women don’t need to be bought. Find out what the girl likes and invite her on a simple date surrounding what she enjoys,’ he sounded amused but his words were laced with that deep wisdom as if he were reciting from an ancient text than offering Rukia dating advice.</p><p>‘Oh,’ Rukia finally let his words register and she groaned and put a hand on her forehead, ‘that’s why he asked me out to dinner.’</p><p>‘The way to Rukia Kuchiki’s heart,’ Captain Ukitake was laughing now, ‘is through her stomach.’</p><p>Rukia couldn’t deny his words, and though they were teasing, Rukia knew above anything how deeply her Captain understood her. Food motivated a lot of what she did, from growing up in the poorest parts of Rukongai to being taken on a culinary adventure in modern day Japan with Ichigo. She valued the simple learns, from the juice boxes with the straws to the way some restaurants had evolved to shoot noodles down a watery passage to their tables.</p><p>‘When is he picking you up?’ Captain Ukitake asked, sitting back in his chair with a font smile.</p><p>‘Soon,’ Rukia glanced up at the clock that hung on the wall just above the office door.</p><p>‘You should go and get ready,’ he nodded to her uniform.</p><p>Rukia blinked down at herself and felt fear stirring in her stomach for the first time. What was she meant to wear? This was the first time she’d been on a date in so long… decades actually. Rukia was sure that Renji wouldn’t mind what she wore, he’d seen her rags and it hadn’t bothered him.</p><p>But somehow this was all different… back when they were children, they had childish bodies, since coming here and living with the Kuchiki’s Rukia had filled out. She’d developed a deep love for food and it provided curves… Renji was looking at her differently and maybe that was her cue to look at him differently too.</p><p>As if sensing where her thoughts were going, her Captain reached over the table and covered her dainty hand with his.</p><p>‘Don’t overthink this, Rukia,’ his voice calmed her, ‘you look stunning in anything you choose to wear for him.’</p><p>Rukia nodded and stood from her desk. It felt like she was having an out of body experience and took a deep breath. This was Renji, her friend… and… potential romantic interest?</p><p>‘Good luck,’ Captain Ukitake’s words followed her as she left the office.</p><p>Picking the outfit to start the next chapter of your life was a lot more challenging than Rukia had anticipated. Finally she settled on a simple lilac snowflake patterned dress that had been a gift from her brother. She’d always told herself she’d save it for a special occasion, and she saw Renji as that special occasion.</p><p>Rukia became aware of more things that evening. More astute to his small actions. The way Renji’s eyes lit up when he saw her, the way he passed her the white rose and snowdrop bouquet and the way their skin made contact as she accepted them. Rukia was aware of the way Renji spoke animatedly and laughed at her puerile jokes, the way he let her try things off his own plate as if he understood how much food meant to her, the way he walked her home, the way the skin of his hand was rough and calloused as he finally reached out to take hers.</p><p>And the way his lips pressed gently against hers, in a timid and chaste farewell kiss.</p><p>Rukia was beginning to think of him differently… think of him and the future they could have together and she was pleased. Pleased she’d given him the chance.</p><p>Captain Ukitake was pleased too.</p><p>He won quite a significant amount of money.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And feel free to join our discord family, that's where these fics originally came from anyway :D<br/>Here you go: discord.gg/drgmaf8</p></blockquote></div></div>
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